Being a psychologist, who is also a Black Woman, I often find myself amongst other {non-Black} psychologists who want to learn and understand more about the intricate lifestyles and cultures of Black people. Recently, one of my favorite questions was the following:

“What is #blackgirlmagic?”​Not only was this question exciting because I {personally} attempt to exude large amounts of #blackgirlmagic on the daily, but also because it meant that my worlds of psychology, popular culture, Black culture, and Womanism were colliding all in one very special moment. I started to imagine a world where traditional psychology utilized interventions steeped in #blackgirlmagic to provide coping skills to Black girls and woman all around the world. We aren’t there, yet. But for now, I would love to talk about #blackgirlmagic and how it (especially in my world) relates to the field of psychology.

What is #blackgirlmagic?

​Simply put, #blackgirlmagic is a private party for Black girls and women, celebrating none other than Black girls and women. #blackgirlmagic is a celebration that involves recognizing, appreciating, acknowledging, loving, and accepting all that is wonderful, beautiful, and even challenging, about being a Black girl or woman. #blackgirlmagic is typically spelled with a hashtag because it began as a social medial movement, where Black girls and women from different parts of the world posted pictures of themselves, in attempts to celebrate their own beauty, accomplishments, and unique perspectives. #blackgirlmagic has since proven to be too powerful to be confined to the internet, as it is now a live and active movement that promotes self-love, authenticity, affirmation of strength, and radical acceptance of Black womanhood.

Why is this necessary?

The short answer to this is…because, why not? However, the more thorough answer involves the historical representation, lack of representation, or misrepresentation of Black girls and women in society. Many stereotypes are used to portray the character and lifestyle of Black girls and women. These stereotypes are portrayed in the media, and also perpetuated within our educational system, corporate America, criminal justice system, and other aspects of daily life. Black girls are often thought to be loud, promiscuous, unintelligent, unmotivated, disrespectful, while similarly, Black women are often perceived as being welfare queens(or people who overuse social services), angry, intimidating, sexualized, and unfit for marriage. These stereotypes are restricting, negative, and harmful. They diminish the diversity and greatness of Black girls and women, while also ignoring the societal predicaments that allow for such stereotypes to be generated in the first place (i.e. poverty, racism, sexism, income inequality, street harassment, sexual abuse, invisibility, patriarchy, mass incarceration, educational inequality, lack of cultural representation, etc.).

One might {incorrectly} assume that a solution to the struggles of Black girls and women would be to join the feminist movement, however even this is problematic. This is because, historically, traditional feminism was initiated by and created for the benefit of White women. Throughout history, Black women have found it difficult to feel welcomed and fully understood by the feminist movement. It is common for White women to “default to Whiteness” or generalize their experiences of womanhood (which is heavily influenced by their experience of also being White) to the entire feminist movement. Therefore, even in their very most well intended attempts to be inclusive and culturally competent, traditional feminist may still miss the mark when attempting to address and reconcile the issues of Black girls and women. ​With all that being said, #blackgirlmagic is so necessary. It is necessary for Black girls and woman to feel celebrated, acknowledged, and loved in a world that often does not feel safe or welcoming. Additionally, it is important for Black women and girls to have a voice that is collective, yet diversified, and loud enough to be heard. #blackgirlmagic is lit.

How does this relate to psychology?

Research and statistics related to mental health service has informed us that minority and underrepresented groups are often at higher risk for mental health distress, however tend to underutilize mental health services. The underutilization of mental health services for many of these groups involves inadequate access to mental health providers, stigma surrounding mental health service, and also the {well founded} belief that they will not be heard or understood by mental health providers. This is particularly the case for Black girls and women. Recent data from the National Center for Science and Engineering showed that of the 2014 recipients of doctoral psychology degrees, only 5% of those recipients were Black. Based on my own experiences, I would safely assume that this means that approximately 4% of those 2014 recipients were Black women (with only 1% being Black men, which is another disheartening story for another promising day). With such a small amount of representation of Black women within the field of psychology today, it’s quite likely that the mental health treatment of Black girls and women is often confusing and inadequate.

Because of intersectionality, or the interaction of cultural variables to create identity, it would be incorrect to assume that the sole use of Black Psychology or Africentric interventions would be enough to address the mental health concerns of Black girls and women. Similarly, it would also be incorrect to assume that these same concerns can be address with the sole use of Feminist Theory and/or interventions. Both Africentric and Feminist theories neglect the unique intersection of both race and gender that Black girls and women experience; the very intersection that is captured by #blackgirlmagic.​Unlike Feminist Theory, Womanism (social theory deeply rooted in the racial and gender-based oppression of black women; #blackgirlmagic’s big sister) has not yet found its way into mainstream psychology. This is unfortunate, because where Feminism lacks in its attempts to intervene with Black women, Womanism would pick up.

Future Directions?

Despite all we have learned about the missing links between psychology today and #blackgirlmagic, I am not discouraged. I still do, at times, imagine a world where traditional psychology utilizes interventions steeped in #blackgirlmagic to provide coping skills to Black girls and woman all around the world. The best part is that I do not believe we are that far from this becoming reality.

My goals for the field of psychology would be the further research and study of unique issues that impact Black girls and women and increased collaboration with social and popular media to guide the tailoring of new and exciting interventions that involve #blackgirlmagic. ​What a world that would be!